


Deus Ex Machina

by spiderwebdudechild



Category: Avengers, Iron Man - Fandom
Genre: Artificial Intelligence, Irondad, Ironfamily, Robo-baby, spiderson
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2020-01-06 10:11:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18386348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiderwebdudechild/pseuds/spiderwebdudechild
Summary: After eight months of failure to conceive, Tony comes up with a little bit of an odd idea. He revamps his late night lab work, and hopefully this time, the newfound little brother of Vision will live without having to run away to foreign countries.





	1. Chapter 1

When Tony had that dream, about the child, that indeed was all it was. He, along with Pepper, fluctuated between hopeful and disappointed. It happened over months, after the jog in the park, which seemed a little ironic, evidently. The reservation that night was a turning point for them, whether good or bad, it wasn’t obvious.   
As predicted, Pepper had her conditions. The nanotech went away, the lab became a little lonelier, as there was now one less person in it. Tony hyper focused on the dream, more and more, and Pepper believed in it too. They each dreamed of a little one, ginger tint to brown hair, or maybe said little one would look like one of them more than the other. Either way, they knew he’d be smart. Tony dreamed of giving him puzzle cubes, wooden or brightly colored. Could almost see Pepper’s smile on him as he solved everything gifted to him.   
After three months, was their first crash. A train wreck-sized drop in hope, and confusion, an bland wonder. It wasn’t the first one, but hadn’t yet pushed them to tears. They went to see doctors, listened, followed what they said. Nothing happened. A few false leads, which was ultimately detrimental to the mindset. Scratch that, it fucked things up. They’d have a positive test, Pepper wouldn’t feel the sickness, yet each time, they’d go over a list of names, new ones each time. Tony was picky. Nothing common, nothing pretentious, and too many had the same feeling as his father’s which drove him away completely from old-fashioned ones. Pepper wanted something simple. Elegant, or even just an auditorily pleasing one. Tony made. . . an inexplicable amount of jokes about names like Makayla or Kaylee that had about fifty spellings each. Once in a while, Pepper would join in the banter. 

After six months, they were told to invest in other options alongside still trying to conceive. Adoption, or a surrogate. They were recommended adoption homes, given phone numbers, shown websites of couples and single women who happily gave other people their children, when they had trouble giving them to themselves. Tony choked inside a little whenever he thought about the possibility of their potential little one not matching Pepper.   
Crazily, a little strangely, about eight months in, Tony connected some frazzled dots. Between his three nano suits, the idea behind the millions of tiny little pieces, he had an idea. He was thinking the theory of a nanotech body for his AIs, although he certainly wouldn’t act on it. He thought about how the nanobots could easily make up a human looking body, with more flexibility than the solid plates his older suits were made of. They could act almost as artificial muscles, tendons, ligaments, moving around according to programming. Nanobots, making up a human-like body.   
Keep said body disconnected from the internet, but make them able to retain information. Regularly add bits of more bots, to gradually let them grow. Design an artificial skin, like from Ex Machina. Program five times more emotion, social cues, pickup on conversation and influence from nurture. Tony stared at the screen of his computer, and then the wall visible through it, then focused on the screen again, and repeat. A few more movies popped up in his head. A. I. Artificial Intelligence, 9, even Alien, in regards to David.   
The conversation was vague, with Pepper. They were having another one of their date nights, a relaxed one, as the ones that made them nervous, that led to nightly activities, had grown far between.   
“Just listen. Imagine if we could pick a kid, right now. Hair color, eyes, all in one night. Boy or girl?” Pepper looked at him with almost mocking eyes.  
“You want to. . . Amazon Prime our baby?” She was holding a glass of juice, but with her expression, it might as well have been a glass of wine, about to be dropped on the floor.   
“Well, when you put it like that-”   
“You decide.” She pointed the glass at him.   
“I decide?” She nodded. “I don’t care either way. I know you, I know you want one more than the other. You do boy or girl, I’ll. . . pick his hair.” She swirled the juice, then, just like wine. Drank the rest, done with her food before Tony was even halfway through his plate. He was too busy confirming to himself that he was, in fact, going to Amazon Prime their baby. Amazon being less then the shipping headquarters, and more his main laboratory. How was he supposed to tell his idea to anyone? He was the epicenter of the “no superbot” lectures, especially from his wife. But this would be different. Designed with a closed off mind, meant to be taught and to learn, like a regular person. Growing each day. Pepper was going to kill him.   
“Boy. Go.” She expected that answer. He read it on her face, one of her famous expressions.   
“Your hair. More responsibility, if it’s not too much to ask. Eye color, go.” She looked at her glass, devoid of any more of the juice. It was cranberry, one of her preferred drinks. She hasn’t had any alcohol for the entire time they’ve been trying to conceive, and Tony jumped on the wagon with her. He even replaces his coffee with orange juice, occasionally. His intake of bagels has also doubled.   
“Oh, not at all. Eyes? Yours. Absolutely.” They were sitting on the couch, both turned towards each other, Pepper with an arm resting on the back. She’s kept a smile on the entire time, and the thought process in her head was curious, wishing yet again that she could read Tony’s thoughts. She wondered if he was leaning more towards adoption, putting more serious thought into it. She knew he wanted a little robotics buddy, not that that was the only thing, but she was wondering if he was really willing to sacrifice the factor of genetics to finally hold a child and call him theirs.   
“What toys would we get him?” On the down-low, Pepper became a pinterest mom. One of the things she wanted to invest in was one of the grand loft beds that had bean bag chairs and a play area underneath. Tony, of course, would gift their son his first walk in closet. Lots of onesies, itty bitty chelsea boots, teddy bear hats. Oh, Tony loved seeing the hats with animal ears. They already had a huge bedroom set aside for, well, whatever his name would be. The green-eyed little one that Tony would build, by hand. To him, creating life is creating life, whether biologically, or manually. And this time, manually it is.   
After Pepper fell asleep, Tony went down the the lab. One of the things at the forefront of his mind was how to recreate the soft touch of a baby. They had significantly less muscle tone than adults, and kinda felt like a water balloon. He told himself that a water balloon wasn’t the best comparison for a baby’s squishy feel. The smell, too. Tony has been around plenty of kids before, and anyone knew that toddlers and infants had a pretty calming smell.   
He had an entire screen of notes up at the moment, jotting down every nitty and gritty thing about babies. Maybe he should talk to May. She was the adoption consultant that one of the doctors had given them a flyer for. Or maybe not. He needed the detailed process on every single milestone for kids, how they develop, growing and weight gain rate, realistic hair, and he’d get to make prosthetic eyes, although the thought of crafting a little baby skeleton out of nanobots as a base made him slightly uneasy.   
That brought up another point. A baby couldn't be made from the same material as his suits, people would notice within the hour. He’d need to research into materials of prosthetics, artificial muscles and anatomy and. . . he’d get to handcraft a little brain. The was in the gray area between cool and gross. He’d use a 3D modeling software first off. . .   
He was getting ahead of himself. One step at a time. And he knew, the first thing he needed to do was tell Pepper. Correction; ask Pepper. She was the head of the house. How did he explain this?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Pepper get to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Infinity War never happened, Russos can suck it owo, and also I’m not making this so (grossly) accurate, the one mock organ system Peter doesn’t have is THAT one, because it’s pointless and weird to put it on a robot, especially a robot meant to look and act like a six month old

“What did you just say? Tell me you did not just suggest that.” He’d started explaining his idea in the worst possible way, akin to saying that they should just flat out raise a robot. 

“Okay, no, no, no. Vision, Ultron, they had complete web access, Vision has that stone, etcetera. I’m saying take that all away. No powers, less artificial intelligence and more. . . artificial human. We can teach him, he’ll look exactly like a kid, he certainly won’t sound like Siri’s older brother.” He didn’t add a “Come on” or “Just think about it” at the end, no urging it on. She stared at him, and this was worse than when he asked her if she wanted her own purple nanotech suit. 

“So. . he stays a baby forever. Robots don’t grow, Tony, and we’re trying to do. . . not that.” He had almost a slideshow in his head, hoping to have prepared for every reaction and question. 

“He gets regular additions to his nanobot count. Like food, it helps him grow, regularly.” 

“And what about emotion?” 

“Nothing I haven’t done before.” He briefly thought to the collection of drives, each a resting spot for the numerous AI programs he’s pre-created. Each had individual personalities, not necessarily made to cater to his, but certainly each had some influence in their coding from his own traits. 

“Robots don’t have skin, or muscle, or organs. I mean, they don’t. . . shit up their back, or cry, but. . . I don’t know, Tony, this, this is a lot of trouble.” She was right. Totally right. They had the same expression, in this moment. A little cautious, a little tired, and a little bit of subtle curiosity hid itself in their eyes. Tony wanted to do it, Pepper was on the fence. She wanted them to have their little one, but she wasn’t sure that was this was the way to go. Yet, at the same time, she could see Tony’s entire thought process. Creating life was creating, no matter the definition. And Tony wanted to create, that was who he was. He created for others, more so than to satisfy himself. 

“He’d even sleep. Temporary power that drains. He’ll grow, sleep, kind of eat, he’ll be a kid. A kid that we made.” Pepper’s expression softened a bit.

“I want our son.” She mumbled, and made eye contact with him. 

“This. . . whatever process this is going to be, is going to be it. If it fails it fails, no second attempts. Any other kids are going to be human.” Tony pulled her in for a hug. 

“No other projects, either.” He tightened his grip, feeling the folds of her shirt and the fibers of her hair on his skin. “He’ll have nerves, he’ll feel us holding him, and hear us talking, and he’ll be warm when he falls asleep on us.” 

 

The slingshot into work was difficult. Instead of him building a personality, he was building a blank, child-like slate. He knew how to program exactly what he wanted. But this, this was the most complex thing he’s ever attempted. He can code something to act like a mature adult, but a kid? The messiness, they had a very specific lack of any development, so all this was, was difficulty with a boy’s name. Peter. It took them days to pick a name, and they went to and from that name. They both liked it more each time. Any time Tony was in the lab, Pepper was down there too. They talked, with spirits, and the deciding conversation was the last time they let themselves go to tears over their struggle. 

There was a point when they brought in May Parker, a pediatric neurologist. They brought her in, carefully, on their project. She gave them near-lectures, essays, research on how infants take in stimuli, how their brain develops, what works in accordance to genetics and every nook and cranny with nurturing a child. Needless to say, she was intrigued by their project, and sometimes, unintentionally, stopped speaking to watch him work. He added in every detail, in the right format, sometimes a sentence going up to hundreds of words of code. One tidbit of information led to another, like dreaming, or how to write learning to walk in code. Maybe the walking bit was as dependent on the physical as much as it was the software. 

In short, the entire process was rewriting every single function and evolutionary reaction of a one year old into a single file. Tony and Pepper wanted it to be realistic, so they also sorted out the most common causes of a child crying, and Tony begrudgingly wrote them in. 

It took a few weeks, not bad for him, and the pair insisted on paying May quite the sum of money. She was also being held to her NDA, permanently. Although, she did stay around. She’d call the day before to see if she could pop in, see how their little man’s hardware was coming along, now that the software was nearly done. With making Peter’s little body, there was a lot of trial and error. That took them longer than the software. His brain came first, code loaded onto drives, built in an ovoidal shape that fit into their hands. It was very light weight, with an almost pliable surface. There was a thin barrier around the drives in the core, and a fleshy outer layer. Pepper got a little frazzled with how much Tony poked it, like it was a real brain. 

For each individual system within the human body, whether respiratory or neural, it was replicated for a purpose that would aid Peter himself. A lot of it was the food-like one, except it was a solid diet of nanobots. Tony had the vision of a three year old crunching on a metal banana, which Pepper tried not to find funny. 

 

It was an enduring six weeks, but it was a little more enjoyable for them, they were sure, than carrying a literal fetus for nine months, and a shorter wait, which was also pretty nice. Each day, they came a little closer to holding their little one, their Peter. He was built in sections, And the last thing that they would finish was the back of his head, as the brain still needed to undergo some software runs. Each time they two stood back at their work, their eyes would lovingly go over him, noticing each perfect similarity, most of all, his face. 

Tony had had fun with the facial expressions, crafting each little muscle in his face, and attaching it from “skull” to the artificial skin of his face. In the end, Peter was given heterochromia. Each of his eyes was painted to look like one of Pepper’s, and one of Tony’s. The eye that matched Pepper’s was on the right, because nobody could really refuse, that’s what she was, pretty much all the time. 

The time came, soon enough, that Peter was all put together. He was laid down on the table, a mix of an art project, engineering feat, and a medical dummy. Tony, Pepper, and May were the only ones in on it, and he was awfully torn on relaying to Rhodey and Happy. This far in, it would become known to them, after they’ve known Peter as a normal kid for a while. Which meant pretending that he had lied about having a kid for about six months, because that’s the stage they decided to start him off with. Rough standing, clearer sounds, recognition and some handsy habits. Before “Frankenstein’s monster”-ing him, they set up his bedroom. 

It was wonderful, with all the ideas, in which they settled on blue and white, and stripes, as the theme. The garage-sized room had previously been empty, but a thorough cleaning was done, and the first thing put in was a large, striped area rug. Tony even built the loft bed himself, and they both painted it white together. A shelf in the staircase, a rail along the side opposite the wall, and the actual bed area, wider than a twin. There were a few shelves put in, and beanbag chairs, and countless stuffed animals. Lots of cute ones that were actually just cartoon sea microbes and insects and other tiny creatures. Tony was picky didn’t like the kind of plush that had long, shedding fur, so every plush in there had short-shaved fur like thick peach fuzz. 

Even with all the effort, they knew that Peter would be sleeping with them for a while. They weren’t going to build him by hand, and then immediately make him sleep on his own.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Pepper finally settle Peter in more, and transition into the life they’ve been preparing for. Then, they get an unexpected visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I’m basing my writing of baby Peter on my baby sister, who’s just a month over a year old. She’s pretty active and likes sounds, and picked up on words very well. She also got to walking earlier than usual.

It was about three in the evening, nearing ten months after that dream. The dream lived on, even if a little. . . evolved. Tony and Pepper were in the lab, looking at little Peter lay on the table, seemingly powerless like a shut off phone. On side of the table, Tony flipped a few switches. Lights turned on under the surface, and on the surface, around Peter’s body, some of his interface icons started to show up, offering him a bunch of things to do from there. He hit a few things, confirmatory sounds ringing at each touch. The last thing he hit was a final power up choice, and it took a few seconds, but then, Peter started to breathe. 

He had been dressed in a pair of tiny gray sweatpants, and a matching shirt. About him, were holograms of his statistics. The literal power bar, temperature, activity. He was still on the dormant side, but that would soon change. They watched in cautious awe as his little chest rose up and down, mimicking respiration. He had all synthetic organs, so they would truly be performing some function, but they weren’t necessary for him to live. 

Proving him right a little more, Peter twitched his face as he slept. His lips went into a little pout for a moment, and smoothed back out. 

“I’m gonna stay, until he wakes up.” Pepper’s voice was a little shallow, but her face was happy. She had the kind of small smile that anyone could read as bursting at the seams. 

“Me too.” Tony went for her hand, as they both looked down at the kid they’ve been waiting for, for nearly a year. The pink was in his cheeks, and his hair, his beautiful head of hair. A light brown, with that pristine ginger tone that shone like an LED light in direct like, and a deeper red undertone out of light. It was wavy, and combed forward, with a funny little cowlick on the back of his head. Tony reached out and touched it, feeling the impossibly soft fibers between his fingers. I made you, he thought. We made you, and we love you, little Peter. We’re gonna give you the world. 

They left the lab, briefly, when Rhodey let them know he was going out. It was through the intercom that Pepper and Tony both realized, Rhodey has been in the building the entire time. When they came down to work, it was that room, and nothing else. They both looked at each other with a silent panic, the question of Rhodey’s knowledge or suspicions suspended in air like an invisible red flag. 

“He hasn’t been down here, as far as I know.” Pepper agreed, although Rhodey has been getting more and more active, the better he gets with his braces. It won’t be long until he holds true to their fear and decides to visit the lower floor. 

When they told him their agreed story, that they’d been hiding a child for six months, the story was that Peter was extremely premature, and had been on an isolated floor that only doctors visited, hence May. It also would explain why Rhodey never suspected Pepper of being normally pregnant. They knew that their story was a slightly belittling story, an actual, harrowing event that they were using just to cover up a project that they could get into trouble with, and they did feel guilty, but this far in, they weren’t going back. 

Peter’s core temperature was up more. Instead of having a hot inside that made his skin warm to the touch, he was having the same temperature all throughout his body. Heat sensors and thermal expressors lined his body beneath the prosthetic skin and soft muscle, and the more power Peter had, the more in sync and awake every detail in him became. At one point, they stopped the conversations and messing around on phone to watch as Peter turned his head. He did another one of his sleeping duck faces, but this time, his mouth hung open a little. 

“I don’t know how I feel about not having to bottle feed him.” Pepper kept her voice quiet, so as not to disturb Peter’s first slumber. 

“We can still pretend, he has taste buds. Sort of.” Tony just realized, he wonder if Peter would find the flat, hard table uncomfortable. Yes, he answered to himself almost immediately. He’ll be able to tell between softness and texture, so it’s logical that he’ll prefer the softer, squishier surfaces. May had made a few joking comments about kittens and babies, how they got handsy and active to test and know the environment around them. With Peter being a machine, it was definitely labeled as his calibration. 

One of Tony’s favorite parts of this, was finally being able to put a face to Peter’s name. He used a 3D modeling software, spending a lot of time on all the curves of his face, making sure that Peter shared a few softened features with Pepper and him. He’d made a few molds, going back and forth to make the smoothest surface. With the untearable but elastic material, he’d made a few different faces, and that went on first. They were both very eager to not have to stare at a robotic baby skeleton laying on the “operation” table. There were magnetic properties to the underside of the skin, thus it being modeled and molded in sections, as if it be laid along seams, where the joints were. 

All the while Tony was on one of his laptops,a few hours later, and they were avidly shopping for baby clothes, when a little tone sounded, from one of the indicative levels hovering about Peter. They both shot their gazes to him, and they saw that there was ten percent left in the last of five major batteries. They were stacked vertically along his spine, with some cooling units around them. He stiffly put the laptop away, and it clattered onto the surface of the desk behind him. For the remainder of the time, they sat like statues for half and hour, watching each little increment of the battery bar filled to the brim. When the digital clock on Tony’s watch hit nine thirty-six in the evening, Peter had finished resting. 

Little Peter opened his eyes, the shiny surface of his eyes a brilliant white, framed by his eyelids and lashes. He made a little squeaking-humming noise, normal. 

Good thing the table was wide, because he immediately rolled over, just in time for Pepper and Tony to jump up, and go to stand on either side of the table. Both of Peter’s hands were tightly curled, and he shoved against the surface to hold his upper body up, to look up at Pepper. With his face turned away from Tony, he leaned over, and watched in joy as he garbled a little.

It worked, he thought. It really fucking worked.   
When he turned his head, he had to adjust his whole body, so he ended up looking like a baby-sized worm, wriggling around on the table as he took in all his surroundings. 

Tony decided to pick him up, putting his hands gentle under his arms, and settled his weight onto one leg, so that his hip stuck out more and he could comfortably hold Peter. He had a normal weight for a six month old baby, something he kept aware of. 

A few hours later, they were in Peter’s pristine bedroom, and he was playing with a colorful little ball. It was a very soft foam, and he squished it, and bit it a few times as well. Well, “bit” was an overstatement, as he only had the hint of one tooth peeking out of his bottom gums. He was sitting on the floor as the rest of his room was put together. They had put the packaging of a comforter and sheet set sitting on the mattress, but it had been all but forgotten for now. There were bins of toys that somehow contributed to learning and sensory stimulation, and a shelf for puzzle cubes that came apart or could have sections turned. In one corner there was a bean bag chair, and in the space underneath the loft bed, it was a mattress on the floor, and a pile of pillows, for lounging around or a different sleeping area. 

There were a lot of other features to the room, like the multicolored stars all over the ceiling, or the framed pictures high on the walls, or the Lego sets, purely for decoration at this point. For now, they just needed to settle in. 

Pepper joined Tony on the floor, in the miniature party with a miscellaneous assort of toys, and Peter. He was smiling at all of them, and would grab one, wave it around, and drop it, or thrust it at one of the two. 

Tony’s heart dropped, when there was a slow knocking on the door frame behind them. Pepper looked, and Tony turned around, hoping it would be an unannounced May, but when he did turn, he saw Rhodey, the absolute most incredulous look on his face. 

“Oh, come in. Got a surprise for you.” Peter looked up at him, mouth spreading into a little grin. He walked in almost as if Peter was some sort of exotic animal. Given the circumstances, it was understandable. Rhodey hears for ten months that they’re trying to have a kid, and then he walks in on a six month old without warning. 

“Yeah, I can see that. Who’s this?” Pepper answered that, a degree of sweetness in her voice. “Peter. He was. . . a rough time.” They were both sticking to the story, prematurely born, barely made it to this point, it’s a miracle. 

“Premature. Born six months and a week ago, he had an isolated room. Didn’t know what was going to happen.” Rhodey pursed his lips and nodded. When he was standing beside Tony, he crouched down, immediately offered a toy. It was a plush, and had some baby drool on it, but that was okay. He took it, and wiggled it back in Peter’s face. He felt a deep, concentrated joy for Tony and Pepper. Peter looked just like both of them, and it was good that he looked healthy. 

“Is that why the doctor was here? She’s nice.” He reached a hand out to pet Peter’s head, feeling how impossibly soft his red-brown waves were. All three of them felt this wonder at Peter, his chubby little face, but Tony felt guilty, that Rhodey felt his joy almost in ignorance. If her knew how Peter came into this world, he surely wouldn’t want anything to do with him. 

“Yeah, and a while ago, he was able to live without his medical aquarium tank, so we became a little busy with him.” Peter looked at him then, and it was a moment, for Tony. He looked at him, and saw that no matter what, this little one was his son. Nobody would ever take him away from Pepper and he, and he is much their adored creation as any biological child. 

“Middle name? Peter had a finger tightly clasped around Rhodey’s finger, and he leaned forward with the other to clasp at his arm. 

“Oh, Benjamin. Something warm and nice.” Peter Benjamin. They loved the name, didn’t know why it hadn’t come to them sooner. Comforting, too, like a worm flannel. 

“Well, this is, is great. Next time you hide a nephew from me for six months, I’m gonna punch you.” Pepper laughed again. 

“Oh, please do. Hey, now Peter can explore more. He’s started crawling.” Pepper looked down at him, as he leaned forward to grab a rattling toy.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter the baby bot meets some new family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starting here/next chapter, instead of referring to Peter by his real, chronological age, I’ll be referencing his modeled age. So I’m this chapter, he’s eight months old. Next chapter, he’ll be eight and a half months old.

“Tony, your phone!” It was sitting on the coffee table, while she was dressing Peter after his bath. 

“Bath” wasn’t quite the right term, it was more like a thorough hand cleaning. Peter now wore a warm yellow sweatshirt, with gray pants and some basic white socks. As Tony walked in, he nudged some odd children’s toys out of the way, He grabbed the phone, and seemed pleasantly surprised when he saw who was calling. 

“May Parker, how’s it going?” A short answer on the other end of the line, and now he had Peter’s attention. He looked blankly up at Tony, holding the device to his ear. 

“Oh, absolutely. You’re welcome any time.” Some more of a high voice on the other end of the line. Pepper cocked her head, and Tony mouthed “May” to her. 

In the open concept living and food area, Rhodey was at the bar in the kitchen, finishing up his breakfast. To not make dialogue unnecessarily awkward or vague, he stepped into the hallway, a ways down from the room. 

“Peter’s up and about, pretty good. Rhodey met him, unintentionally. But everything’s good. Perfect, honestly.” She laughed on the other end, “Well that’s wonderful to hear, I’m glad my pro bono seminars went to good use.” He nodded, even though she wasn’t in front of him. 

“I gotta say, it’s a tiptoe situation, what with the food and bathroom stuff.” Peter did have a special tank should he ingest any human food, for easy removal later on. 

“So you wouldn’t mind if I stopped by on my way to work? I’ll be in and out, promise.” Tony was warm and welcoming, as she was a part of their little family. At least, Tony thought so. 

When he went back out into the room, Rhodey was holding Peter, while Peter almost aggressively grabbed at his face. 

“This kid’s handsy. You gonna have a problem with him tryna hand you stuff?” Rhodey gave him a teasing look, and with an eye roll in return. Peter’s cues were good, because he garble-giggled. 

May’s car pulled up a few minutes later, parking just out front instead of her usual spot. She was welcomed in through the glass, and immediately went to greet Rhodey, hand extended. He shuffled Peter’s weight onto one arm to return the gesture. 

“May Parker, uh, Peter’s doctor. A lot of home visits for comfort.” After the handshake, she got her face closer to Peter’s, as this was her first time seeing him awake. He fumbled with his lip a little, until reaching out to her with a semi-slimy hand. She smiled, very much used to all things children, biological and now artificial. 

“Rhodey. Best friend, sometimes the voice of reason. Can’t say it always works, but, good to meet you.” She laughed, and showed no signs of worry towards his joking comment. Looking at Peter, she felt joy but also a bit of confusion, as he looked so real, so lively, yet she knew that beneath that soft skin, there were wires and coding only. 

“May, mind if we. . . ?” He gestured to the hallway that he’d stepped into, and she followed, in step with Pepper. Rhodey kept a hold of Peter, bouncing himself a little in the same spot. He couldn’t help but smile down at his pudgy face, and enjoy it before he inevitably became Tony’s shenanigan partner come teenage years. 

“Oh-oh my god, Tony, he looks-he looks great!” She wanted to fangirl. Anyone who lay eyes on Peter would have to be told to know that he wasn’t delivered in a nursery. “His eyes are so pretty.” Sometimes, the contrast between the colors made them look like one was lazy, but it was just an at-first-glance thing. 

“He’s doing even better, loves all his toys.” She was nodding with him, remembering every little detail he’d had to consider. 

“He likes Rhodey, I see. Being around more people will help him pick up words and conversation styles faster.” She was doing her doctor talk, even more than usual with her mechanical prodigy. 

“Yeah, oh, we got his room set up too, but obviously he’s gonna be with us for a while during nights.” Pepper added, “And days.” He smiled at her, a true, honest-to-god smile, no underlying snark or skepticism.

“And, um, Rhodey, doesn’t know?” With each word, she lowered her voice, and leaned in a little bit. She just needed to confirm, so that her excited rambling didn’t go anywhere it wasn’t supposed to. 

“Correct.” Pepper visibly stressed about that. She knew that if Rhodey did find out, he wouldn’t make any public scenes or incidents, but she wanted him to be happy for them. Maybe that was selfish. She thought it was a little selfish, but Peter was truly different. He wasn’t a superbot, he’s just a child. 

“Okay, okay, well, I’m gonna head to work, I’ve got a few consultations today. If anything changes, or you have some good updates, let me know.” They walked back out to the living room, where May said a goofy little goodbye to Peter, with her face scrunched up. He smiled big enough for his two tiny little teeth to show on his bottom gum. He leaned away from Rhodey, enough that he had to put his other hand on his chest to keep him from falling. 

“He’s such a little cutie. Okay, gotta go. Be good, Peter.” She smiled at them all again, before retreating back through the doorway. 

“She’s nice. Glad to see your social circle expanding again.” Tony walked over, and gently took Peter back. He agreed, it’s been. . . a while since there’s been large company at the complex. That didn’t stop it from being their home. 

Peter was “eight” months old, really two, when he met Happy. It was an awkward situation, for sure. The ring, to change the subject of the press conference from the official break up of the Avengers to a marriage proposal, and then Happy walks in, and there’s a baby. Tony had told Rhodey to send him up, as they were in Peter’s bedroom, and helping him get the hang of standing. He would get on his feet for a few seconds, half crouching, half falling back onto his rear. He still managed to crawl around like nobody’s business, grabbing toys and dragging blankets in his tight grip. 

Happy stood in the doorway, shocked, and processing the sight before him. His mouth hung slightly open, and the longer it went on, the more Pepper laughed. 

“Congrats, you’re an uncle.” Tony had started to invest in more casual clothes. Bending down, holding onto a squirmy toddler, and lying in uncomfortable positions on the floor was made a little more uncomfortable in expensive blazers and tight slacks. Also, his even more ragged sleep schedule had caused a break in his timely dressing hours. He’d even brought Dum-e upstairs, as he hardly went back down to his lab anymore, only to make designs for products, including some aircraft designs. 

“Call Rhodey up here, we gotta talk about crawler over here.” He took the command a little too seriously, and leaned back, calling Rhodey up. He came quickly, poking his head in the door, and gave Happy a look that said, “I know, right?”

“One thing I wanna make a little known about this whole thing. Nothing goes public. Peter stays our thing, for now. Only for a few years.” Being within arms’ reach, Tony hooked an arm around Peter as he was attempting to stand, and gently pulled him to his chest. He let out a sharp squeal of a laugh, and only resisted to lean forward and pull a blanket off of the floor. 

“My mouth’ll stay closed until you say so.” Good Honeybear, Tony thought. He looked to Happy, who mockingly saluted. 

He lost a bit of the initial astonishment at this new little fact of the house (or facility, rather), and had to control his giddiness as he gently picked up Peter. A warm but tight feeling sprouted behind his sternum. He was used to being Tony’s “security”, but he could drive himself just as well. How did he help protect someone so tiny and helpless? Peter obviously didn’t have the lack of impulse control that his dad did, but that didn’t mean he didn’t lack the same curiosity. That would show up soon enough. Happy’s immediate thought was to buy one of those puffy children’s coats, and replace the lining with bubble wrap.

It didn’t matter. This little guy was his family now, and nobody was gonna hurt him. Despite the solidifying resolve of protectiveness, he didn’t physically give off Edna vibes. He still had the near-panicked look on his face. 

“Save the face for when he’s crying in the room next to you.” Tony smiled up at him, and all of them simultaneously though about how all of their rooms were in the same wing on the same floor, but it now made the most sense for Peter. If he was smack in the middle of all the adults in the house, he’d never be without help. Hopefully, that meant less time spent crying


End file.
